Chapter 1539 Arrival at the Front Line

Anxi Protectorate.

After nearly two months, Li Xiang finally arrived at Anxi Protectorate, which was also the logistics base for fighting the Arab Empire.

On Li Xiang's left were Cheng Chuliang and Li Chengyi, on his right were Xiao Shougui and Zhang Jiuli, and there was also Chang Sunze standing next to him.

"Today, everyone is gathered together. Because of the war, we don't need to say anything extra. The intelligence has been summarized. The people of the Arab Empire are already in the process of gathering. I want to know how we are doing?"

Li Xiang mainly asked about the defense situation in Central Asia. After all, he came all the way from Chang'an City and knew the situation in the Western Regions. The armies in various places were well organized. If we were to fight now, it would be an advantage for us. After all, our army stayed where it was, while the people of the Arab Empire had to travel a long distance.

As the person in charge of the military here, Cheng Chuliang naturally had to report.

"Your Highness, within the jurisdiction of the former Andong Governor's Office, there are more than 80,000 elite soldiers of our Tang Dynasty, including more than 20,000 cavalry and more than 60,000 infantry, but all the infantry have their own war horses..."

Originally, this report should have been made by Cheng Chumo, but Cheng Chumo has returned to Chang'an at this moment. As the former deputy general, Cheng Chuliang took over this job. Chang Sunze and Li Chengyi could only watch from the side. The army is also a place where seniority is valued. Although Li Xiang pays attention to merit, sometimes this seniority is also very important.

Moreover, Cheng Chumo is Li Xiang's brother-in-law, and he is also qualified to do this. Cheng Chuliang is Li Xiang's second brother-in-law, and he is more qualified than these two people.

In addition to these Tang troops, there are 40,000 Gaochang troops, 10,000 Goguryeo troops, 10,000 Fuso troops, 10,000 Tuyuhun cavalry, 20,000 Xueyantuo cavalry, 40,000 soldiers from various countries in the Western Regions, and 40,000 Central Asian soldiers, a total of 170,000 people.

When Li Xiang heard the number of troops, he understood what Cheng Chuliang meant. He asked Li Xiang to bring as many elite soldiers from the Tang Dynasty as possible. Even if there were not enough elite soldiers from the Tang Dynasty, he should bring more Gaochang soldiers and try not to bring too many soldiers from the Western Regions.

To put it more simply, there are enough miscellaneous troops here. There is no need to continue to increase the number of miscellaneous troops. They can't help us much on the battlefield. We should try to bring a group of elite soldiers. Only when there are more and more elite soldiers, can we have a greater chance of winning.

However, considering the safety of the Western Regions, Li Xiang still recruited 80,000 soldiers from the 36 countries in the Western Regions this time, which also took away most of their labor force. If these people were not brought here, Li Xiang would be a little worried even if he was fighting on the front line.

"Although the court has sent nearly 100,000 elite Tang troops this time, I cannot put all of them on the battlefield. You should understand my idea. We have opened up such a large area of ​​the Western Regions and Central Asia. They should be dispersed in various places for defense. We must stand here firmly, instead of leaving after the battle."

Everyone also understood Li Xiang's words, that is, to consolidate the meat that has been eaten in our mouths, and not to cause turmoil in the surrounding areas due to the war. Once turmoil occurs, our previous efforts will be useless.

So in this case, no matter how the generals on the front line requested, Li Xiang only brought 20,000 elite troops, plus the original Tang army here, it was considered to be a 100,000-strong army. As for other combat missions, they will rely on the vassal armies of various countries.

Li Chengyi and Cheng Chuliang frowned. According to their original idea, Li Xiang should at least bring 50,000 people, so that they can carry out their deployment. If there are only 20,000 people, many places will have to be supplemented by Gaochang soldiers and Tuyuhun soldiers.

The soldiers of these two countries are second only to the Tang army, and their combat effectiveness is also remarkable, but some people in Tuyuhun are a little untrustworthy. These guys belong to the same nomadic people, and Xinyang is similar to the people of the Arab Empire. If they contact secretly, they may catch us off guard.

"Your Highness, can you temporarily mobilize the Tuyuhun army back to the Western Regions, and then mobilize a group of Western Turkic cavalry over? Their combat effectiveness is comparable, but in terms of trust, they are stronger than the Tuyuhun people."

Cheng Chuliang hesitated for a while, and finally chose the Western Turkic people. Although the Western Turkic people's beliefs are somewhat similar to those of the Arab Empire, they had previously killed a large number of people from the Arab Empire, and there is a blood feud between the two sides. If you want to expect them to cooperate, forget it.

In the previous war, we had caught Tuyuhun spies, so Cheng Chuliang was a little worried. Although we dealt with those people on the spot, no one knew whether the situation would spread. Any small mistake on the battlefield could cause us heavy losses, so we should try to fill these loopholes before the war begins, so that the Tang army can achieve the final victory.

"The one who led the troops this time is the young Tuyuhun prince Anbazak. He is trustworthy. This guy has been studying in Chang'an, and all his family members are in Chang'an. In addition, some of those who chose to go to the war are mixed-race of Han and Tuyuhun people."

Li Xiang had seen everything when he came, so when he chose the Tuyuhun army this time, he specifically chose those who were trustworthy. Your combat effectiveness may not be very good, but you must be trustworthy in terms of bloodline. Li Xiang also knew that the bloodline theory might not be right, but sometimes you have to believe it.

Take this batch of Tuyuhun troops for example. Perhaps they can only rank second or third in the entire Tuyuhuan. Of course, this is in terms of combat effectiveness, but if you want to talk about credibility, they can definitely rank first.

There is no eternal relationship, only eternal interests. The interests of these people are already tied to the Tang Dynasty. If they have other ideas, if the Tang Dynasty really falls, they will not have a good result.

As early as when Li Xiang occupied Tuyuhun, these people helped the Tang Dynasty to suppress local rebels. Everyone has the blood of their own people on their hands. You say they will betray the Tang Dynasty, so what exactly do they want? (End of this chapter)